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Dear editor:
“Those who deny history are doomed to repeat it.” My paraphrase of Santayana’s famous warning applies to Bruce Ticker’s column. (“Column: The Torment Boils Over. Should Israel Finish Them Off?” boulderjewishnews.com February 27, 2025.) The history of the modern State of Israel is marked by repeated terrorist incursions, intifadas, and wars, marked by intermittent times of relative calm. “Permanent” ceasefires last until one of Israel’s enemies attacks again. But the atrocities of October 7, 2023 changed the rules of engagement. Hamas’ rapists and murderers broke into families’ saferooms, set houses afire, tortured and killed parents in front of their children and children in front of their parents. Palestinians, inside and out of Gaza, cheered Hamas’ vow to inflict a thousand October 7’s on Israelis, leading Israeli leaders to conclude that, this time, they needed to inflict a decisive victory on Hamas, to be followed by the demilitarization of Gaza and the deradicalization of the Palestinians. While fully aware of these legitimate and necessary goals, Major John Spencer, head of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, noted the IDF’s exemplary efforts at avoiding civilian casualties during the fighting and praised Israel’s success in achieving the lowest ratio of civilians killed to combatants killed (1.5 :1) ever seen for fighting in a densely occupied urban area.
But people like Bruce Ticker are still complaining about civilian deaths in Gaza, denying the facts — Hamas’ Ministry of Health does not distinguish between civilian deaths and combatant deaths; the Ministry calls teenage combatants “children”; the Ministry denies Hamas’ use of women as lookouts, decoys, and suicide bombers; statisticians have noted that the Ministry’s numbers imply that there are essentially no adult males in Gaza and that no one in Gaza dies of natural causes.
President Biden’s constant reminders for Israel to be more careful to avoid hurting civilians, slowing the delivery of munitions to Israel, and demanding that Israel send “humanitarian aid” to the Gazans, guaranteed that Hamas would be able to stay in power (Hamas’ hiding weapons in schools, mosques, homes and businesses guarantees that no one can respond to Hamas’ aggression without killing some civilians; powerful weaponry is needed to destroy underground fortifications; and Hamas steals the aid intended for the people’s benefit, using it for its fighters and selling it at exorbitant prices to the people).
While I have my doubts about President Trump’s plan to build a riviera in Gaza, Trump’s plans for expanding the number of Arab countries allying with Israel via the Abraham Accords, and working with those countries (and European countries) to build a Palestinian entity co-existing with Israel is a breath of fresh air after decades of Arab/Palestinian rejection of peace plans advanced by Israel and the US. If the Palestinians really want a state of their own, they need to demand that their leaders stop enriching themselves on donated monies as well as ceasing to divert funds to efforts to destroy Israel.
Toby F. Block
Atlanta, GA
